Ronin - Costume Design

Last Update: 19 September 1998

MAY ROUTH (Costume Designer) has collaborated
with John Frankenheimer on two widely acclaimed television movies,
Andersonville and George Wallace, the former of
which garnered her an Emmy Award nomination. Ronin reflects
a professional reunion with director Frankenheimer.

Born in India, Routh studied dress design
and fashion in London, eventually working as an assistant designer
on Richard Attenborough's Oh! What a Lovely War in 1969,
followed by similar assignments on Richard Lester's The Three
Musketeers and The Four Musketeers before becoming
the costume designer for the first time on Nicolas Roeg's The
Man Who Fell to Earth in 1976.

Her subsequent feature film credits include
Hal Ashby's Being There, Richard Benjamin's My Favorite
Year, Ron Howard's Splash, Marty Feldman's The Last
Remake of Beau Geste and Kenny Ortega's Newsies. Routh
also designed the wardrobe for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts
Club Band,Caddyshack II, Ghost Story and
The First Family.

Her extensive television credits include
numerous telefilms: Lucy and Desi: Before the Laughter
(for which she received an Emmy Award nomination for Best Costume
Design), Marina's Story, Blood River,Connecticut Yankee,
The Image and Capital News. Routh has also worked on
music videos for Barbra Streisand and Queen.

She was nominated for an Emmy Award for
her work on the Frankenheimer telefilm Andersonville. She
also did George Wallace for the director.

The costume design reflected Frankenheimer's
commitment to gritty realism. "When John described Ronin
to me, he often mentioned The Battle of Algiers, a black
and white film with a very gritty look," she says. "He
did not want anything that looked like costume design, which meant
that we had to eliminate a lot of color. Most of the wardrobe
had to be anonymous and functional, because the characters had
to be believable in everyday clothes, and at the same time not
too noticeable."